Developer: Sega WOW Publisher: Sega Release: 02/24/05 Genre: Action
When Sega went third party it presented a huge opportunity. With three platforms to support in addition to the PC they could reach deep in to their catalog of intellectual properties to create new games. Some were successful like Shinobi. Others were of mixed quality like the various Shining Force games. And then there are the ones we would rather not talk about. Surprisingly Altered Beast had two shots at thrilling gamers on the Gameboy Advance and PS2. Unfortunately both games are awful. Project Altered Beast is so bad Sega did not release it in the US. Trust me, stay away from this one.
A Special Forces helicopter carrying a mysterious sarcophagus is taken down by a griffin like creature. From the wreckage a man named Luke Custer emerges, completely amnesiac. When he is attacked by mutants he transforms to defend himself. A mysterious woman saves his life but provides no further information as to who he is and his purpose. This is just the start of a series of mysteries to come….
It is an interesting decision to move the setting from Ancient Greece to the modern day. The gene splicing plot is a convenient if not downright clever way of explaining why Luke can transform in to various different creatures. Most of the story is told in flashbacks explaining the events leading up to the beginning of the game. The real meat does not kick in until the late game and honestly is predictable and not terribly interesting. However I promise you will not stick around long enough to learn any this as the game has massive problems.
Unlike the original arcade game Luke is not a beefy protagonist. In fact in his default form he is near useless. You have a limited selection of attacks with the most important draining spirit energy from enemies. Your various transformations drain spirit energy and you can switch forms at any time. You begin the game with the werewolf form and more than likely will use this one the most. Over the course of the game you will eventually earn the merman, yeti, Minotaur, griffon, and dragon forms.
Each form has an array of attacks and abilities that upgrade through genome data dropped by enemies. The werewolf has the biggest skill tree and most useful skills. Most of the others have skills that are either mandatory for specific sections or just plain convenient. Garuda, the griffon can fly and most enemies lack aerial attacks making it ideal to avoid damage. Yeti form can freeze enemies and lift heavy objects to bludgeon them but is slow. You get the Minotaur and dragon late in the game but there are plenty of secrets in prior areas that need their powers to access. Although the spirit gauge drains while transformed most areas have respawning enemies allowing you to stay in beast mode indefinitely. That is a good thing.
If the goal was to give players cool beast forms with an ever expanding move set Sega succeeded. The problem is they forgot to put them in a game that is worth your time. Altered Beast makes a number of amateur mistakes that ruin the gameplay and make it an absolute chore to play. First and foremost the game plays like it was designed for a controller with one analog stick. Chances are it was in development for the Dreamcast and it shows in the controls. You have no control over the camera; the right analog stick is not used for some god forsaken reason. Instead you can only make it face forward with R1. As dumb as that is the lack of a lock-on system is the bigger kiss of death.
Altered Beast follows the Devil May Cry template of locking you in a room until you kill all enemies to proceed. The game throws legions of monsters in your path, both as fodder to keep your spirit meter up but also to overwhelm with big numbers. The lack of a lock-on system means you are swinging blindly as the camera cannot keep up and is slow to follow, if it does so at all. Between the targeting problems and the realization that this is the formula for the entire game and you have a title that grows tedious by the end of the first hour. Unfortunately this is a moderately long game that does not have enough variety to hold your attention for the long haul.
I will say it is not all bad. Compared to the prior games each beast form is very distinct with an evolving tool kit. Only one form sees minor use which, all things considered, is a god send. When the game is not tripping over its own feet it can be fun mowing down hordes of monsters. In addition there are a few hidden forms that are call backs to the original game. Unlocking them requires playing the game way more than you should however. I swear every game in this series is the epitome of good ideas, bad execution.
In Closing
I tried so hard to like this game but I just cannot. Altered Beast is bad. Let’s be completely honest, the original game was a novelty at best. Yet this modern installment had the chance to redeem the series. Instead it continues its legacy as a good idea marred with terrible execution. I am baffled as to how every title in this series is consistently mediocre; why can’t they get it right? We do not talk about this game for a reason, let’s keep it that way.
